Shrewsbury man, 24, caught with indecent images of children
A Shrewsbury man who had dozens of indecent images of children on his mobile phone and laptop has been handed a three-year community order.
George Gaskell, 24, of Terrace Farm, Cruckton, had the devices seized when police visited his home last year, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard.
Ms Sophie Murray, prosecuting, said information was passed to the police that various searches had been made for indecent images on the internet.
When police analysed Gaskell’s laptop and phone they found 25 category C images, 20 category B images and six category A images – the most serious kind.
Gaskell, aged 24, pleaded guilty to possession of the indecent images on the day of his trial.
The court heard he had a previous conviction for exposing himself to two young girls.
Mr Paul Smith, mitigating, said: “This is a relatively small number of images for these kinds of cases.
“Some of the images do seem to date back to 2012 around the same time as the earlier offending.”
He said Gaskell had since moved on with his life and had a partner.
The court heard he works as an HGV repairer.
Sentencing Gaskell, Recorder Martin Jackson told him: “Even downloading indecent images of children fuels a demand for such images and fuels the abuse of children who appear in those images.”
Gaskell was given a three-year community order with a 40-day rehabilitation activity requirement and must complete the sex offenders treatment programme as well.
He was also ordered to do 100 hours unpaid work and was given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.
It means any device he uses which connects to the internet must be made available to police for inspection.
He also cannot delete his internet history and he is banned from seeking contact with children under the age of 16 unless it is unavoidable in ordinary daily life.
In addition, he will be on the sex offenders’ register and have to pay £1,200 costs and an £85 victim surcharge.
